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Saw the study just after Xmas/ coming up to the new year.Ever since my poz diagnosis in 1985 I've been telling myself "HIV will probably kill me before the smokes". The Danish study blew that notion out of the water for me.

Last ciggie was Jan 2. YAY!

My partner/lover smokes. I'm getting pretty unhappy with the smell... I have no idea how to deal with this issue, after all he was a smoker when I met him.

Nothing like getting a good party buzz back in the day and topping it with a ciggy or two. Probably enjoyed the inhalation the most, good ole nicotine and tar were working their magic too. And I was not a heavy smoker. Really do not miss it at all any longer.

Personal interpretation of the study was that HIV intensifies the ill-effects of smoking. Perhaps some sort of double penalty.

Glad to hear you have quit harleymc. Wish you luck/strength.

P.S. Yard/Balcony/Patios can all be attractive smoking spots!

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I may not agree with you, but will always defend your right to disagree.

I would be interested to know if second-hand smoke has a particularly detrimental effect on HIV+ people. Sometimes at restaurants, I feel like screaming at the puffer that he's more likely to give me lung cancer than me giving him HIV.

Yes that first inhalation...all the way down to the diaphragm......jeez that must have been a previous life.

Are poppers the same as tape-head cleaners? I think I preferred Rush, but Climax worked well in a bind.

Poppers are indeed the same thing. Now they are marketed as, among other things, Liquid Aromas.

Now that the era of the videotape seems to have all but passed.

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"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

And YellowFever----Second hand smoke is probably bad news in a restaurant. When I smoked....I of course pooh-poohed the entire notion. I can remember going to bars in California in the 90's when you had to go outside and smoke....what a horror that smokers were segregated!

Not sure if you can light-up anymore in any states, but could be wrong.

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I may not agree with you, but will always defend your right to disagree.

But yes a valid concern. Although most places are outlawing smoking at restaurants and public places , even way down south here in Texas.

-W

The Don't Tread on Me folks are banning smoking? What's up with that?

I quit just over 4 years ago. Lately, I've been having very vivid dreams, where I'm smoking. I think it is about wanting to be back in a time, before I worried about health stuff. I came up with that on my own, without paying my therapist.

Btw, my roommate just came in. I am in the basement, but I can smell the smoke smell. Of course, cold air makes it stick to you more. He's a respiratory therapist, too. He doesn't believe they can smell it on him. Some hospitals here now can send you home, if you smell like smoke. It is odd. I hate the smell of smoke indoors or when it's cold. But, I enjoy the smell outside, on a warm, sunny day. When I smell it then, it does make me want one.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Ann--That last clause is an interesting twist. Would seem hard to get 100% compliance. Do you ever hear of cable TV (for instance) writing up a citation....that so and so was smoking while I was attempting to work.....or do they just look the other way?

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I may not agree with you, but will always defend your right to disagree.

If HIV intensifies the ill-effects of smoking then why are my numbers better than the rest of you? Maybe it's all of the poppers and snort.

Can not forget being in a head shop in Canada and another customer asked for a bottle of poppers. The clerk cleared his throat loudly and said "You would like to buy a bottle of video head cleaner?"

The subject of poppers yearns for it's very own thread.

After touching on subjects like smoking.....wanted to make it clear that it was never an attempt to extend moralism/judgementalism. If I had it certainly would have been hypocrisy. Personal freedoms are huge with me.....and extend down to smoking and even poppers. Gun control is a tough one though.

« Last Edit: February 26, 2013, 10:38:48 AM by scotty54 »

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I may not agree with you, but will always defend your right to disagree.

Ann--That last clause is an interesting twist. Would seem hard to get 100% compliance. Do you ever hear of cable TV (for instance) writing up a citation....that so and so was smoking while I was attempting to work.....or do they just look the other way?

They are within their lawful rights to walk out without doing the work they're there to do, without fear of being fired.

I'm a smoker and I've experienced the whole gamut. I've had some people say "don't worry, I'm a smoker too. Do you mind if I light up?" Others have warned me that if I don't put my cigarette out they'll leave without doing (or finishing) the work.

One guy walked into my house, smelled a cigarette I'd put out about five minutes earlier, and promptly left saying, "I'll be back at eleven sharp tomorrow morning. Don't have a cigarette (in the house) for at least two hours before I get here, or I'll leave again." It's a pain in the ass.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Ann---Hope you dont mind that I read your blog and saw Isle of Man. Is that legality enforced in all of Britian or just your county?

Seems a little 1984 ish, like all the street cameras in London. Having said that, London crime levels are probably very low, and workers having to do their job have the right to expect a healthy environment.

Also the 2 hour window seems a bit pushy. If you have a ceiling fan on high can you get a time reduction (ha ha).Thanks for sharing a bit of your corner of the world

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I may not agree with you, but will always defend your right to disagree.

"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

Without knowing, I would have thought the most conservative state (in regards to smoking bans) would be North Carolina, or maybe Virginia. The biggest tobacco states, and most probably the most influential lobbyists.

But...what do I know

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I may not agree with you, but will always defend your right to disagree.

Does anyone live in a state where you can still smoke in bars/restaurants?Just curious.

There are Malaysian laws banning certain areas here and there but certainly zero enforcement. A stricter ban on alcohol (Muslim country) meant that smoking is the only acceptable vice.

A point that a friend once made was that people need to begin to see the air as a shared natural resource. It is like peeing in the river that everyone swam in....The argument that non-smokers can go to their own non-smoking places is like the guy who pissed into the river asking everyone else to swim in a pool.

I am surprised by what Ann said about workers coming to your home. My perception of European countries is that they give their kids a carton of smokes for their tenth birthday. Ok, exaggeration, but it always seemed like so many were smokers in the UK, France, Spain, and Italy. I think all countries have national bans now??? Maybe not France?

I feel bad for workers coming to my parents house. They smoke in this tiny house, and they don't care who is there. We will visit once a month for a few hours, and they refuse to go outside or just refrain. Yes, it is their home. But, my mom has the heat on 80, so the smoke and heat are unbearable. They could refrain from smoking for an hour or two, for their guests. My dad is so bad that he doesn't go anywhere anymore. He hasn't been here to visit in years. And, certainly wouldn't stay. He cannot go some place, where he cannot smoke inside. He is so stuck in his ways that he must be able to shit while smoking, and smoke in bed. No big deal, because we have our issues with him anyway, and prefer he not come down with mom. Well, a visit now and then would be good, but he gets tiresome, but I digress.

Here in Georgia we have few bans on smoking in public. We have restrictions, and requirements for air filtration, but in this city of over 3 million people (Atlanta and signs following) we have, to the best of my understanding, exactly ONE gay bar that is a no-smoking place.

Everywhere else, if I care to go out to a bar (maybe three times a year) I come home with my clothes and body absolutely wrecked. Even if I get hammered, I refuse to go (or be put to) bed without taking a hot shower and ditching the clothes in the laundry. Even then, I wake up with smoke smell in my ears and crevices, and on the pillow. I find it pretty off-putting.

I have been around, even dated, smokers who have been considerate and discreet. I grew up in a home with two parents who chain-smoked (killed Dad good and dead in 2001) and I monstered them something awful. I was as pedantic, passive-aggressive, intolerant and condescending to them as I am accused of being here on the forums. I refused to let them smoke at the dinner table, for example.

Oddly, I found/find the smell of raw tobacco very nice. And there was a brief span of time that Dad smoked a pipe, and i was totally in love with that smell. Something endemic to mass-produced tobacco cigarettes is, to me, simply awful. Shower fart awful.

I honestly believe the science that says that smokers lose a portion of their sense of smell. Many ex-smokers end up dry-cleaning or tossing huge chunks of their wardrobe because of the lingering smell. When we were choosing Dad's funeral suit (fun times!) they still smelled faintly of old cigarette - and Dad quit smoking FIVE YEARS before he died.

I know I have my own bad habits and am pretty much un-marriable for a lot of reasons. But that habit, to me, is really hard to overlook in a romantic mate. A friend with whom I shall not be making out? No problem. Smoke on the porch though, and expect generous gifts of E-cigarettes from me pretty much consistently.

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"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

Both of my parents smoked when I was young. My mother was the serious one, probably 2 packs per day. She loved to smoke in her bedroom as she chatted endlessly on the phone. The tar/nicotine odor was really heady when you walked into the room. I was awed when she quit in her 50's cold turkey. She said it just seemed so taxing all of a sudden. It was oddly comforting to go into her bedroom when she was gone and take in the familiar scent. After she quit she said the toughest part was when she had a scotch or two. She drank old fashioned blended scotch with ice and a little water (no fancy malt scotch for her.) She went on to live nearly 20 more years smoke free.....scotch kept her ticking.

I am amazed you can still smoke in ATL bars, JK. In this area (DC) everything changed about 10 years ago. Before that I also remember returning home smelling like I had worked a double shift at the Reynolds Tobacco Plant. Some of the burbs here in Montgomery Co MD that think of themselves as progressive/hip and liberal even tried to enact ordinances that would ban smoking outside in certain areas. They failed, but I hear it is still on the back burner.

And what is the hoopla about those elec cigarettes? Understood you still get to go through the motions of the act....but is there any aroma at all.

I read the consumption numbers have really declined here in the states and a lesser extent in Europe, but the Chinese market is huge for the tobacco companies.

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I may not agree with you, but will always defend your right to disagree.

I imagine there are still quite a few of us who hold onto the belief that we'll gain excessive weight if we quit. I started smoking after my diagnosis not caring about the long term affects.

I've quit several times with the longest being over 3 years. I craved them constantly right up til I started back. One thing I've never allowed was smoking indoors and now I'm living in a home with a chain smoker. It drives me batty. I wash whatever outfits I'm wearing that day.

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Complacency is the enemy. Challenge yourself daily for maximum return on investment.

Here in the People's Republic of Berkeley, California you can't smoke in the commercial areas -- inside or outside.

My mom was a heavy smoker and died -- too young -- of lung cancer. It was a rough trip for sure. You basically die of suffocation (my mom didn't thankfully. Because of the idiotic rules in this country I really can't say what actually caused her to die).

She was addicted and just couldn't quit. Having had a few compulsions of my own, I know how hard it can be to break an addiction. I think about her every day even though it was 10 years ago.

Here in the People's Republic of Berkeley, California you can't smoke in the commercial areas -- inside or outside.

Yeah, I remember that when i lived in Nor-Cal, it's somewhat the same way here in Albuquerque, NMI find it odd & strange to still actually see someone smoking, as I don't see much of it at all now-a-days

HUGS

DEN

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"it's so nice to be insane, cause no-one ask you to explain" Helen Reddy cc 1974

Wolfter....that sounds tough, especially living with a chain smoker. When you quit, send me a message so I can send you some cyber cheerleading.

And Geobee..I had to laugh out loud about the P.R. of Berkeley. Must be why you almost never hear of republican politicos looking for votes there.I know even a decade doesnt make it much easier when you are talking about lung cancer.

Thanks for the shout from N/Mex there denb45. One of my favorite vacation spots. Got to get back and see the farolitas and smell that burning pinion wood.

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I may not agree with you, but will always defend your right to disagree.

And what is the hoopla about those elec cigarettes? Understood you still get to go through the motions of the act....but is there any aroma at all.

Over the last couple of years my friends have dated smokers and had them to my place for dinner. A couple had e-cigarettes and you really would have to be right in the middle of the exhale to even detect a whiff of burnt tobacco, and even then it didn't linger.

Sadly, most of those guys a) were not part of our group for other reasons, but b) returned to regular cigarettes because the e-cig wasn't giving them the rush they expected. They had gotten so conditioned to the hot smoke, deep exhale, and slight head rush of THAT, and could not be satisfied with the tobacco/nicotene alone. Sort of speaks to a more complicated effect than just the chemicals entering the bloodstream and the need to use a prop.

Congrats on your mom's choice to quit! I cannot imagine how difficult that must have been for her - but I hope it brought hack vitality and good health.

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"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

I suppose the elec cigarettes could be used as a bridge for those smokers that can not quit cold-turkey. Perhaps eventually tapering off the time puffing on the elec cigarettes until you are comfortable with total abstinence.

Hope we see a good scientific study that directly correlates smoking cessation with a rise in CD4/VL/%. No scientist here, but I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see it.

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I may not agree with you, but will always defend your right to disagree.

You started at what age? I know the stats are if you don't start before 18, you likely will not smoke. I was surprised with our hot neighbor. He never smoked all the way to like age 28, or whatever he is. He got addicted to pain pills and began smoking. Now, I remember pain pills would make me crave a smoke, just like alcohol.

You started at what age? I know the stats are if you don't start before 18, you likely will not smoke. I was surprised with our hot neighbor. He never smoked all the way to like age 28, or whatever he is. He got addicted to pain pills and began smoking. Now, I remember pain pills would make me crave a smoke, just like alcohol.

I smoked sometimes, just not regularly. I could smoke a cig and go months without another. After my diagnosis, I went full force.

Strangely enough, my brother and sister both started as adults. My brother was in the AirForce for several years before he started. He was the most unlikely person to do so. He's the typical jock. My sister started after her son was born and she was stressing about her dick of a husband.

I do plan on quitting again, but it's mostly the vanity reasons now. I won't get my teeth whitened until I quit and I notice them being kinda dingy looking.

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Complacency is the enemy. Challenge yourself daily for maximum return on investment.

Always astounded to remember how central smoking was embedded in our culture until recently. Checking out "mad men".....what a feat to be able to smoke in the workplace while on the phone/conducting meetings/etc. At cocktail parties they kept cigarettes on little platters for everyone.

I have a brother-in-law that smokes those little tipped cigars(?). He always says he doesnt inhale. Right.

I know I have read stories in the papers (still enjoy a thumb thru the NY Times every day...the old fashioned way...thats an over 50ism lol) about some old dear that is celebrating their 103rd b-day. When asked about longevity.....Ive heard some say----Oh I've smoked for 75 years and have a couple shots of bourbon every day. Jeff G.....you must be one of the lucky ones with great genes.

Not to sound long winded, but something else that hasn't been mentioned is emphysema. If you have ever seen someone in the latter stages....you dont want to.

Thanks for the pics. Like Bette Davis said "Getting old isn't for sissies"

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I may not agree with you, but will always defend your right to disagree.